COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE'S ECONOMIC ADVISORS

Thursday's GDP arrives just one day after the FOMC's July meeting, where policymakers voted 9-3 to hold rates steady, marking the most dissents at a single meeting in nearly a decade. Today's data sharpens the debate without resolving it.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines NMHC’s July 2026 Quarterly Survey of Apartment Conditions, which shows apartment markets tightening even as sales activity and financing conditions softened, alongside the latest Chandan Economics–RentRedi data showing that mom-and-pop rent collections remain broadly stable despite modest summer weakening, and a Chandan Economics–Arbor Realty Trust analysis of US Census Bureau data showing that new multifamily supply is incr

The July 2026 Independent Landlord Rental Performance Report from Chandan Economics and RentRedi shows modest summer softening in rent collections, though the broader stabilization trend remains intact. On-time payments edged lower again in July, while full-payment resolution remained broadly stable and late-payment activity, though improved from its early-2026 peak, remained historically elevated.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines the CREFC Board of Governors Sentiment Index, which shows CRE finance sentiment stabilizing after a sharp first-quarter pullback, alongside Chandan Economics’ latest Multifamily Rent Growth Update, where rent growth strengthened in June and a larger share of US metro areas recorded rising rents.from-home renters have become less rent-burdened since 2020.

US multifamily rent growth accelerated in June, with annual growth reaching 1.4% and monthly annualized growth rising to its fastest pace since 2023. Market breadth also strengthened, though performance remains highly uneven across metros.

CPI has its sharpest single-month decline since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly reducing the likelihood of a July rate hike.

This week’s Rental Housing Weekly Briefing examines RealPage data showing that apartment demand and occupancy improved in the second quarter as new supply continued to pull back, alongside Trepp analysis showing that Sun Belt multifamily credit stress remains elevated but more nuanced than headline regional comparisons suggest, and Chandan Economics research on why work-from-home renters have become less rent-burdened since 2020.

Renter households that work from home have seen lower median rent burdens since 2020. But the data suggest that this is less about remote workers moving into cheaper housing and more about higher-income renters being more likely to work from home.